Intro
The day had come for the 2025 NHRL World Championship. The top 4 robots from each of the 6 qualifier events would be fighting for the ultimate trophy: the Golden Brett. I had qualified back in February with Pinevictus in the 3lb weight class, and was pretty excited for my first time at the event I had been trying to get to for so long.
Leading up to the event I had redesigned the robot, which you can read about here. I also won a local event, which gave a nice confidence boost going into things.
Following SWORD, I finished the build of the next 4 robots and made sure that all were buttoned up and ready to go. Special care was taken to ensure full confidence in each copy. Although this took extra time to execute the assembly and wiring in with the same precision, I knew that I needed to be able to trust each robot going into the box. I have found in the past that those minute differences will result in favoritism, and usually that isn’t good to have with your children.
The qualifying rounds were released, and thanks to Glenn Boxell, a Google Sheets bracket was available. Of course I had Pinevictus winning. Unfortunately, I wasn’t fully correct because I did not plan on losing. More to come on that later.
Sad Octopus
The qualifying rounds were released, and I would be fighting Sad Octopus in the first round, a rematch from February. That first fight which you can read about here, was a 3 minute slugfest and beautiful beetleweight fight. Although I won, I did not feel fully satisfied looking back as one of my drive sides had become impaired, limiting my mobility. I was ready to try it again.
The pre-fight nerves never fail to show up. In this case, I was competing in the biggest event of my life, so naturally I was not fully calm and collected. Those nerves led to some early mistakes with a missed box rush and some lost engagements, but I quickly realized I needed to “lock the heck in”. Then I was able to send the other robot into the roof a few times, in addition to lining up a shot during his self righting process. Pinevictus took the KO, starting the day 1-0. Nice to settle the nerves a bit.
Repeater
The following fight would be against reigning world champion Repeater. Two beater bars that can each hold their own. To be the best, one must beat the best. And this was a great opportunity to do so. Unfortunately, I did in fact lose to the best.
In the SWORD event prior, I had great success with TPU forks, thus I decided to try them in this fight. This was a mistake that I should have foreseen, but Repeater was able to easily bite into my forks and win the engagements. I ended up tapping out after my weapon went down. Not something that I would usually do, but I decided it would be better to save the parts and keep moving throughout the day.
Murphy’s Law
Now sitting 1-1 in the qualifying rounds, it was time for the deciding match to see who would make the elimination bracket. Murphy’s Law was a forked undercutter, an archetype that I had not previously fought. Going in I had convinced myself that forks would be a better decision than my wedge configuration. Going forwards, I will be sticking with a wedge for any horizontally spinning opponents.
The fight got off to a dicey start. Murphy’s Law was able to snag one of my rear wheels, splitting the 3d print along the layer lines. As we will see later in the day, who needs all four wheels anyways? After a few exchanges, their robot stopped moving. Because I was not decisively ahead in the eyes of the judges, I kept hitting them. This was seen as slightly controversial, but I have had moments in the past where I have waited for a count out and the opposing robot suddenly comes back to life. With my tournament life on the line, I wanted to leave nothing to chance. Pinevictus wins via KO, and makes the bracket.
Mako
Another rematch from February! Pinevictus became the first robot to KO the number 1 ranked Mako at the time, which you can read about here. This time however, Mako had a friend, aptly named Friendo. This was slightly worrisome to me, as I feared the ability of Friendo to pin while Mako goes in with the saw. I had made some special bent Titanium armor to defend against the overhead attack robots, and was excited to try it out. To make the weight for the top armor was a Titanium beater (not a great way to save money). This fight also started out rough (sense a patten here??) and I was pinned a few times by Friendo. My top armor ended up working very well, with Mako being unable to pierce through it. I did get a bit lucky as Mako almost hit my drive belt, but we will also learn that I didn’t need those anyways.
Part two of the match I began to understand it now. I was able to disable a side of Mako’s drive by removing a wheel, and then focus attacks on Friendo. It was a bit overwhelming at first, but Pinevictus takes the Judge’s Decision and moves into the top 8.
Silent Spring
Oh dear. Another rematch from February! Unfortunately, this time I had lost the previous matchup. While it is a great honor to fight Jamison Go, I did not enjoy my losing record to him. Dedicated fans of my previous builds may remember a certain matchup between Attrition and A12XWANG, but that is a story for another day. Silent Spring may have haunted my dreams as of late, but I knew that I would just need to be better.
The fight starts out with a tremendous roof shot. However, that is also how our last match started, and I knew not to get overexcited. Fighting these shuffling undercutters, it is key to minimize their bite. Thus, I try to drive as slowly as possible, which keeping the front towards the enemy. It is going well for the first minute. Then, in a big hit, my wheel falls off! I was worried that it was over just as quickly as last time.
No worries, as 3 wheels is plenty. Pine keeps moving, and Silent Spring’s weapon goes down. I continue to punt him around, and leave the judges with a wonderful scene of my opponent stuck against the wall.
After this fight, I felt that I had conquered the world. I had lost to 2 consecutive shuffling undercutters in Silent Spring and Coldsnap (uh-oh), and now I had come out victorious. All of the pressure of the rest of the day had been erased and I could sleep peacefully. But that needs to wait as I am not in the top 4.
The Wall pt2
Another 4.5lb robot!! What weight class is this again? No worries though. I was still riding the high of the previous fight, and it hadn’t quite dawned on me yet that I was in the semifinal of the world championship. And for the second fight in the row, I get off to a great start. And this time, nothing goes wrong. I get one of the drives sides early, which is a tremendous advantage. I am then able to drive around in circles and juggle The Wall pt2 for a few minutes. Honestly, I didn’t even realize what happened, but all of a sudden I was in the final.
Coldsnap
And here it was, the final. Yet another rematch! This was actually our third matchup of the year. I had taken a victory in February to qualify for the finals, and Coldsnap handed me one of the most brutal losses of Pinevictus v7 in May. Unfortunately, I spent a lot of time watching that match. There was a moment in that match where I was too excited, and drove full speed into him, leading to my beater bar getting ripped out. I would not make that mistake again, but I had been wanting sweet revenge.
The first portion of the match was going well. At this point, I know not to count my chickens before they hatch. Must stay focused to drive perfectly. Then, my wedge starts getting bent down, and my mobility is impaired. Coldsnap starts getting hits on my wheels and rear end. You might think this is where it would be over, I would get second place, and cry myself to sleep for the next year. But as I keep my front to the enemy, one side of my wedge mount is ripped off, and it no longer high centers me. Now we are sparring again, and it is a duel. A few massive hits later, Coldsnap is not moving. I get in a few extra hits for fun, and then hear the count out begin. I don’t believe it at first, and ten seconds later I am a world champion.
Concluding Remarks
That is a wrap on the 2025 season, Pinevictus finishes with a 6-1 record and the trophy. Not a bad showing for my first finals appearance.
I would like to give a great thank you to all of my opponents. The skill level displayed at NHRL is unmatched, and it is so meaningful because of the exceptional talent of the builders. My advice to all readers is to be a gracious competitor. Win or lose, nothing matters more than respecting your opponent.
Pinevictus was once the bottom of the barrel beetleweight robot. I showed up to NHRL in November of 2021 with a rubber band weapon belt, one side of drive that could only go backwards, and a head full of dreams. Over the next few years, I would grow my skills and learn incredibly painful lessons of losing. No matter where you are starting, anything is possible. Nothing beats hard work and persistence.
